I hate to say it, but the President of the Philippines is one of those seriously deluded persons in this world who actually envies the United States. In fact, she is doing everything in her power to turn the country into an auxillary of the US.

Our country has had a long history of wanting to become like the US, even going as far as taking pride, at one time, in the extremely insulting moniker "Little Brown Americans". It's quite sad that some people in the Philippines always seem to feel the need to have some sort of overlord to look up to, even in this age of (supposed) enlightment. Fortunately, there are many who have begun to see that self-governance and autonomy are inalienable rights of any country that are more precious than any promise of financial aid or military intervention, especially when it always comes with a multitude of strings attached.

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Actually, it's not just the president of the Philippines who thinks that way; there are still any number of Filipinos who believe the same thing. We call it "colonial mentality". Not that I'm justifying it or Mr. Passacantando's statement. I just want to put the whole struggle for my country's autonomy in context.

Peace.

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It's an interesting line of thought, is the U.S. really admired? All the arguements and statistics still ignore a basic fact: there is something about the United States, its culture, and all the attendant effluvia (music, books, clothes, hair styles, "gear", etc) that people find compelling.

Yes, the U.S. is guilty of "cultural imperialism" insofar as U.S. cultural artifacts are exported to every corner of the globe. However, in a free market system consumer rejection rules. You don't want Amercian culture, don't buy it. Make your own instead. Go local; support homegrown art, music, fashion, and culture. It's really quite simple.

As for those who insist most heartily that the U.S. is no longer relevant on the world scene...methinks they doth protest too much. After all, why devote so much energy to something so irrelevant?